In April, Alberta SPCA officers seized 204 animals, including 131 dogs, from a Milo-area property and charged Marshall with causing or allowing an animal to be in distress and failing to provide proper care for injured or ill animals, said SPCA spokesman Roland Lines.

Some of the dogs at the Calgary Humane Society developed parvo – two were put down, and two are recovering, said Lines. The Calgary Humane Society temporarily shut down parts of its operation due to the dogs developing the virus, and affected areas were disinfected.

A number of birds and some other small livestock were never removed from the property, said Lines.

Vulcan County had asked that no more than three adults – older than 12 months - be given back to Marshall, he said.

“That’s because of how their bylaw is written,” Lines said.

That bylaw allows residents to have up to three adult dogs on their property without needing a permit for a dog breeding operation.

Marshall had applied to Vulcan County’s Municipal Planning Commission for a development permit to operate a dog breeding and sales business on the property where the animals were seized, but on June 21 the MPC unanimously voted against his application.

A total of 67 dogs previously owned by Marshall are now the property of the Calgary Humane Society, and 62 are the property of the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society, said Lines. The two societies have been given ownership and are preparing them for adoption, he said.

The court order sets out minimum staffing levels that Marshall has to maintain to care for the animals. It also lays out immunization and veterinarian schedules, and requires that a vet make a monthly site visit, he said.

The Alberta SPCA ended up holding on to all the animals for nine weeks, he said.

The cost for the Alberta SPCA to do so – more than $500,000 - was “extraordinary”, said Lines.

But the Alberta SPCA was perfectly willing to look after the animals, he said.

“We do have a reserve fund for this eventuality,” said Lines.”We need to build that fund back up again.”

To do that, the charity will be putting out an appeal for donations, he said.

The SPCA will be working with the Crown prosecution on the animal cruelty charges against Marshall.

Marshall’s next scheduled court appearance is set for July 24 in Lethbridge.

The Vulcan County resident now faces more charges, stemming from a cat sold at his former store, the Animal House, in Okotoks.

Marshall faces charges of allowing animals to be in distress and for failing to provide adequate care for the cat when it was ill, Lines told Okotoks Online.

He's scheduled to appear in court in Okotoks on Sept. 11. on those charges.